Florida State (6-3) fell to Florida (9-3) by a 69-55 score this afternoon in Gainesville, FL.

This game was tight early but Florida ended the first quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 19-11 lead after the first quarter. The Gators would never look back from there. Florida led 60-35 after the third quarter. FSU made it a bit more respectable in the fourth quarter winning that final quarter by eleven points but the deficit was too much to overcome.

The Gators were able to impose their will on FSU from almost the opening tip. The Seminoles struggled with UF’s pressure defense for the entire game. That pressure led to a whopping 23 turnovers for FSU while the Gators committed only seven. Florida State actually outshot the Gators from the field (40%-36.2%) but with all of the turnovers FSU only had 55 shots while UF had 69.

River Baldwin had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Morgan Jones was the only other Nole in double figures with 12 points.

With the win, Florida snapped a five losing streak to Florida State. The last time UF beat FSU before today was in 2015.

This was an extremely disappointing performance from the Seminoles. FSU did continue to play hard until the end. However, the Noles were never able to fully get comfortable in this game due to UF’s pressure defense.

FSU really needs to get the point guard situation figured out. Bianca Jackson played today but she clearly isn’t 100%. The Seminoles are very vulnerable if their floor leader isn’t fully ready to go and that was proven in a big way today.

Florida State will try to regroup on Thursday, Dec. 16th when they welcome Houston to Tallahassee. The game will tip at 7pm and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra